May 31, 2006
Contact: Bev Pfeifer-Harms
314.345.5500 office

MFH Awards $1.8 Million for Dental Sealant Programs

Smiles Across Greater MO Provides Dental Care to Underserved Children

ST. LOUIS- Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) has awarded $1.8 million to six nonprofit organizations as part of its new Smiles Across Greater MO funding opportunity. These grants will provide dental sealants for an estimated 10,420 underserved Missouri children.

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of children, ages 5-17, in the United States - four times more common than asthma. Tooth decay also occurs more frequently and is more severe among low-income, minority, uninsured and underinsured children.

Smiles Across Greater MO, one of four Priority Area Grant (PAG) funding opportunities from MFH in 2006, is an effort to improve the oral health of Missouri's children. Funded programs all focus on prevention education and the application of sealants in order to decrease the number of children dealing with the effects of untreated tooth decay. These effects can include severe pain, decreased school performance and absenteeism, impaired speech development, and costly restorative treatments later in life.

Those organizations receiving the four-year dental sealant grants are:

Family Health Care Centers, St. Louis, $268,460. The organization's "Chasing Away Decay" program provides sealants for 1,400 students in Catholic elementary schools in St. Louis City, St. Louis County and Jefferson County over the four-year period.

SEMO Health Network, New Madrid, $331,541. The expansion of the organization's current dental program expects to treat more than 2,700 elementary school students in six southeast Missouri counties.

Institute for Research and Education in Family Medicine, St. Louis, $399,345. This grant improves access to dental sealant services for 2,400 uninsured elementary school children in seven public school districts in the St. Louis City/County area, along with dental education to thousands of students and their parents.

Missouri Highlands Health Care, Ellington, $400,000. About 1,500 students in 14 southeast Missouri schools are benefiting from this dental sealant program over the next four years.

Chariton County Health Department, Keytesville, $238,578. This grant implements an oral health education campaign and provides screenings and sealants to 2,000 students in north central Missouri. The program also offers a component to encourage youngsters to pursue dental-related professions.

Washington County Health Department, Potosi, $164,323. The department plans to provide dental sealants to 1,120 students in grades 3-9, and is developing brochures and a curriculum for children and parents to encourage proper brushing and the importance of regular oral health care.

Established in 2000 through the for-profit conversion of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in the state. The Foundation is in its fourth year of grantmaking, issuing more than $167 million in grants and awards to date. It is dedicated to serving the uninsured and underserved in 84 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis.

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